Пусть мандарин и маленький, после ужина мне хочется именно его, а не большой десерт.

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Breakdown of Пусть мандарин и маленький, после ужина мне хочется именно его, а не большой десерт.

• маленький: small
• мне: me
• ужин: the dinner

Questions & Answers about Пусть мандарин и маленький, после ужина мне хочется именно его, а не большой десерт.

What does пусть mean here? I thought it usually meant let.

That is one of its meanings, but not in this sentence.

Here пусть introduces a concessive idea: even if, granted that, or let it be so. So:

• Пусть мандарин и маленький, ...
  = Even if the mandarin is small, ... = Granted, the mandarin is small, but ...

So it is not giving an order. It is acknowledging a fact and then contrasting it with the speaker’s real point.

Why is there an и in Пусть мандарин и маленький? It doesn’t seem to mean and.

Right — here и is not a simple and.

In the pattern пусть ... и ..., the и helps create a concessive meaning:

• Пусть мандарин и маленький
  = The mandarin may be small, but... = Even though the mandarin is small...

You will see the same thing with хотя too:

• Хотя он и устал, он работает.
  = Although he is tired, he is working.

So in this sentence, и is part of the yes, that may be true, but... structure.

Why is it маленький and not some other form? And where is the verb is?